To better facilitate her training, Tachibana Koneko, who previously only came in the evening, would now come at noon.
The underground dojo underwent some renovations, setting up machines suitable for Tachibana Koneko's training, including weights and other exercise equipment.
These were not prepared according to human standards; each time, Inaba Tsukiyo would use Herrscher's power to increase the weight of the equipment while Tachibana Koneko trained.
At the same time, Tachibana Koneko's feet and hands were equipped with specially prepared wrist guards, which became incredibly heavy under Herrscher's power.
If it weren't for Tachibana Koneko's unique physique, even movement would probably become extremely difficult for her.
Tachibana Koneko's first task was to abandon her past wide-open attack style and make her fully utilize every part of her body in combat.
Only martial artists know how to precisely use their internal muscles for training, and Inaba Tsukiyo, who could hear the muscles making sounds, could accurately pinpoint Tachibana Koneko's deficiencies and then modify them.
She had no intention of making Tachibana Koneko cultivate, but rather to have Tachibana Koneko learn what suited her from the movement techniques and other martial arts she possessed.
It must be said that Tachibana Koneko's talent was truly strong, and coupled with her own incredibly diligent nature, no matter how intense the training, she would grit her teeth and endure it.
"Rest for a bit, and carefully recall the battle just now, Koneko."
Signaling Tachibana Koneko to rest, she handed her a towel from nearby, asking her to recall the details of the recent battle.
"Although your talent is very good, you still haven't trained enough. To perfectly master what I've taught you, you'll still need some time."
"I understand. But... your training methods, I've truly never heard of them before, Tsukuyo."
Techniques for exerting force and movement were all things she had never encountered.
These novel things made Tachibana Koneko very curious. While training, she felt her own continuous growth, making her somewhat admire that humans could create things that even devils hadn't thought of.
"Why can humans create these techniques? Tsukuyo. Aren't humans all..."
Tachibana Koneko didn't finish her sentence. In her impression, humans were all very weak; unless they were humans who had transformed into devils and had some combat power, other humans had no combat ability at all.
Of course, these were all her perceptions before she met Inaba Tsukiyo. Tachibana Koneko truly didn't want to admit that a human could render her utterly defenseless.
"Why? Hmm~ Perhaps it's just as you think, because humans are weak."
"Eh?"
Tachibana Koneko looked at Inaba Tsukiyo with some surprise, not expecting her to have such an answer.
"Surprised? Actually, this is also a fact. Whether in the past or now, humans are weak. Even if some special beings appear, humans are very weak."
"Unlike races like devils or angels, humans at most only live for a hundred years, and humans are easily infected with diseases. They can even be hit and killed by a suddenly appearing truck while walking on the street."
Humans... are truly weak. Compared to devils and angels, humans are indeed weak.
"But... precisely because they are weak, when humans contend with other powerful creatures, they use strategy to fight against beings they cannot possibly defeat. It was like this in the past, and it will be like this in the future. These techniques are experiences humans have accumulated over thousands of years."
Inaba Tsukiyo did not know if there were special humans in this world, but in any world, humans have successfully survived from other powerful races through their own efforts.
Even if humans are weak, the greatness of humanity cannot be ignored by anyone, whether in an ordinary world or a collapsing one.
Tachibana Koneko listened quietly to Inaba Tsukiyo's words, and her impression of humans gradually began to change.
More than a month passed unknowingly.
This period of time was nothing for the immortal Inaba Tsukiyo and the devils.
During this month, Tachibana Koneko could be said to have abandoned her performance and fully dedicated herself to training.
Every day, at most, she would report to that mysterious building after school in the afternoon, and then go to Inaba Tsukiyo's place to begin her training.
Throughout this month, Tachibana Koneko grew stronger every day.
Inaba Tsukiyo watched Tachibana Koneko's transformation with great satisfaction, and Tachibana Koneko's changes were also noticed by her master.
At Kuoh Academy, in the facility that Inaba Tsukiyo could not enter last time due to the barrier, Tachibana Koneko's master was there.
Just as Inaba Tsukiyo and the others had previously expected, this Kuoh Town was indeed an area ruled by a certain devil.
It was ruled by the high-ranking Gremory Family.
This building was originally just an old school building with a long history, the former school building of Kuoh Academy. It is no longer in use and has been converted into the Occult Research Club.
The atmosphere inside the school building was somewhat gloomy, and the lighting was very dim.
In a room lit by candlelight, an office-like room, a girl in a Kuoh Academy uniform sat in the main seat.
She was a girl with vibrant red hair, and behind her was another girl with the demeanor of a Yamato Nadeshiko.
Just like the red-haired girl, she had waist-length black hair tied into a ponytail that hung down her back, exuding a gentle aura.
These two were the most popular figures at Kuoh Academy, ranking first and second. They were Rias Gremory and Himejima Akeno.
"Recently... Koneko's situation has been very strange," Rias said, looking at the documents in her hand and raising her eyes. "Where are Koneko and Yuto?"
"Yuto has already started work, and Koneko has also gone out. She's been very diligent lately, just coming to report and then leaving."
Himejima Akeno's role was like that of a secretary; she would help Rias handle some minor tasks.
"Oh? Is that so? Perhaps Koneko isn't as diligent as you think, Akeno."
Rias raised an eyebrow, her tone a little strange as she spoke.
"Hmm? President. Are you saying?"
"Although it's not typical for Koneko, her performance has indeed plummeted significantly over the past month."
Rias pulled out Tachibana Koneko's performance report from a pile of documents, which listed Tachibana Koneko's performance each month.
If this were the performance of a newly joined devil, Rias would consider it normal, as these newcomers had not yet grasped the knack, and it was normal for them to have little performance.
But Tachibana Koneko was different; as one of their main members, Tachibana Koneko was not comparable to a newcomer.
Tachibana Koneko's past performance was the best, and now it had dropped to such an extent.
To what extent? Only one order in a month, like a salesperson who only has one person buy the company's product in a month.
If this salesperson weren't a girl, she would probably have been fired long ago.
No matter how she thought about it, it was too strange. Such performance made it impossible not to notice.
"Only one order? Impossible. Koneko's performance is the best; this situation shouldn't happen."
Himejima Akeno was very surprised. This situation had never occurred before. Even if performance fluctuated, it had never been this exaggerated.
According to Himejima Akeno's observation, Tachibana Koneko had been leaving very early this month. She had thought Tachibana Koneko was going out to work early, but only one order after a month?
"This... President, do you think Koneko might have found a regular customer, and this regular customer is over-instructing Koneko, which is why it turned out this way?"
"It's not impossible, and it's also the most likely scenario. But..."
Rias's originally somewhat angry gaze became lost. She had also observed Tachibana Koneko; after all, Tachibana Koneko was her subordinate, and she wasn't the type of person who liked to exploit subordinates. Moreover, Tachibana Koneko was very likable.
So, upon learning of this matter, Rias observed Tachibana Koneko for a period and found that things were not as bad as she had imagined.
"Koneko doesn't seem unwilling, otherwise she wouldn't leave earliest every day. And... Koneko hasn't even asked for her own items."
Even rewards like money would be recorded, but that one order had no reward at all, which was too strange.
"Hmm... Oh my, oh my~ It seems something happened to Koneko when we weren't aware?"
Himejima Akeno bit her lower lip, as if she had thought of something, and smiled with interest.
"Akeno, have you thought of something?"
Rias couldn't help but ask. Himejima Akeno was very smart; otherwise, she wouldn't have let her help with some of the affairs.
"Hehe~ Nothing, just something I read in a book before. So I think it's very likely Koneko has encountered something recently. Hehehe~"
"Alright, quickly tell me what you've thought of. I don't want to guess what you're thinking, Akeno."
Rias said in an annoyed tone. This person always liked to do such things and never considered other people's feelings.
"President, haven't you heard? There's a saying that love... completely changes a person."
"Love... love? Koneko? No way!"
Rias's pupils widened, and she said instinctively.
"Who knows~ After all, this is the first time we've encountered something like this, and... it's not impossible, is it?"
"Koneko, whose performance consistently ranked first, was summoned one day by a very good customer. After a brief interaction, Koneko was very satisfied with this customer and gave that person the flyer that could summon her."
"In subsequent interactions, Koneko gradually fell for that person. Because she wanted to stay by that person's side, she turned down all other requests except for that person's, and stayed by that person's side every day."
"..."
Rias fell silent. Himejima Akeno's words were not impossible; given Tachibana Koneko's personality, this was not an impossible scenario.
"It seems I need to find time to meet this person."
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